Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassion’s, they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

As I wake this morning after a fitful night, this hymn is playing in my spirit. Great is Thy Faithfulness is a tribute to the steadfastness of God and to his immovable character.

Life is wild. It rolls at us like the breakers of the sea. Smashing against us and then drawing us out into deep water where we fear we may drown. At times the water is still and calm, but inevitably it will stir up again with some wind of change or discontent. Yet Gods faithfulness remains. His characteristics of love, comfort, peace, kindness, endurance, strength, gentleness, goodness, mercy and grace never waiver never change.

These are the things upon which we can rest and trust.

Thou changest not, thy compassions thy fail not.

Today I think of the family this week who’s loved one was diagnosed with cancer. To the young couple who have just been told that they are carrying a disabled baby. This is for the family who have been in hiding from a wild, violent and destructive husband and father and who have just been asked to come and identify his body in the morgue. To the children who are now caretakers of a mother diagnosed with MS. To the couple who have been told that they are infertile. To the one struggling with depression and mental turmoil. To the parents whose son is addicted to ice and to the daughter who is dying from anorexia.

Although I may not know you my friend. Today I offer you this song as a bond of friendship. To assure you that as you listen to this, I sit with you in your pain and I identify with your grief, with your loss. This is the bond of community and the hope of friendship. Know that you are not alone

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can staywith us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life

Why did we think we would have a pain free easy life? Why do we grow up believeing that the wildness and unexpectedness of grief and pain will escape us. We will inevitably find pain in our lives, life is messy, complicated and unexpected my friend. To believe anything else is to believe a lie.

God never promised to take the trials of life away from us. He did however promise that He would never leave us or forsake us. That He would always be with us. That His unchanging, steadfast love and strength would carry us and hold us. That His love would soften our hardened hearts and that His peace would calm our anxiety. It is the grace of God that purges the toxic bitterness from our hearts and it is His joy that gives us the strength to endure, the ability to forgive, the hope to continue.

Close your eyes and listen to this beautiful song.

Let it wash over you like a benediction. Be strengthened knowing that you are not alone in this trial. There are heroes of faith all around you singing, believing, hoping and praying for you. Love Lisa.

Played and sung by friends that I love and trust and who have held me in times of distress and pain. Close your eyes and let the peace of God fill your spirit and strengthen you today.

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2 Comments on “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”

We sometimes ask the question: ‘Where is God when it hurts and I need Him? I find Him in the Church, not the building or the organisation, but in the caring, loving, praying, and support of His people. (And also reading anything I can find by Henri Nouwen.)